"Even when the rainbow seems to pass right by me....I'm still finding Gold in the clouds....."
04 November 2022
First of November Faves
It's the first Friday of November! And for us Americans, it's the perfect month to be intentionally grateful as we lead up to Thanksgiving Day in just a few weeks. Let's pause our busy lives and find FIVE of our FAVE blessings from the week. Even in the more difficult weeks, the Lord gives us blessings. Sometimes we have to look around us and just count the little things. Join in with me and other bloggers as we link up at Susanne's site.
pomegranate martini
DINNER DATE! Dave came home from work Friday evening around 6 pm saying he was craving Italian food. I was wanting Thai and was just going to order take out Thai (I don't cook on Fridays since I work full time outside the home all week and teaching little ones with special needs is absolutely exhausting at age 62! Sometimes we do make pizza though!) but he suggested we have a date night. We went to this chain Italian place here in town and wow....they've changed up the menu since the last time we were there (over 5 years ago!) and it's fantastic. I had the Grilled Salmon with Lemon sauce and Parmesan Truffle fries; Dave had the lobster ravioli. We both had Caesar salads and of course their amazing Italian bread and dipping oil. I'm thankful for an evening out with my husband, delicious food and a sale priced martini!
Moreau Lake at Moreau Lake State Park 29 October
Plant filled Canoes!
the back side of Moreau Lake where the beaver dam is located
MID-DAY MEDITATION: On Saturday mid morning, I drove up to my sister Joy's house. She lives about 45 min north of me. We walked from her house about a quarter mile to a new trail system of walking paths through a wetlands along a brook called Halfway Brook. We walked the main "out and back" trail which totals 3 miles. It was a great morning for a power walk. Then I left her house, drove to a fave sandwich shop and ordered lunch. I drove towards home but stopped at my fave state park where I typically swim or kayak. This past summer I had only gone twice! There was one man on the beach reading, an older couple having a picnic on the grounds, and several hikers. Many of the campsites were filled with campers. It's been a glorious autumn here in New York State and the campgrounds are still open. Most close on Columbus Day. I ate lunch and walked the beach meditating. I'm so thankful I decided to stop at this lovely lake.
WORSHIP AND WORD: We sang this song in church on Sunday morning, and it just moved me. I love this more contemporary version of the Doxology that I grew up singing every Sunday morning in my childhood church. This new song with the more contemporary version mixed in just really moves me. And our pastor wrapped up his sermon series based on The Beatitudes titled The Pursuit of Happiness. It was an 8 week sermon study and just excellent. I'm so thankful for our church!!
31 October
a flutterby!
HALLOWEEN! Being a preschool special education teacher, we tend to dress up in a simple costume (no masks or weapons are allowed) for Halloween. I haven't done this every year but the last couple of years I decided to participate. This year I bought a super simple butterfly costume with antennae headband. Fun story: at gross motor time on the playground, one of our little almost 4 yr old boy students (E) was dressed in his cow costume with just his pull up on underneath (he is currently being toilet trained). He said "fly!! Get me" (we play tag often on the grounds). So I pretended to fly....about half way around the large slide structure, E stopped, started unzipping his costume, pointed to me and said "Let's Switch" All of us adults cracked up. (Keep in mind this is huge.....last year at this time he was non-verbal at almost 3). Later in the evening, between handing out candy to the neigbhor children, and eating dinner, our youngest girl stopped in as she was in town after her work, and had a piece of homemade apple pie with us. I was able to give her some fresh baked gingerbread cookies to take home with her. I'm thankful for fun days in between the mundane ones.
the pond with many geese and ducks at The Crossings 2 November
The Orchard Trail at Crossings
The Ramble (through some woods) at The Crossings
AUTUMN AFTERNOONS! What glorious autumn weather we are having in upstate New York and the Capital Region. From what I see on the news and friends' social media feeds, the entire state (north country/Adirondacks, Southern Tier/Finger Lakes, western, central/Mohawk Valley, Hudson Valley and the Capital Region where we live, is just having the best autumn with warm temps, glorious sun, rain when needed (still more dry than usual), and fantastic foliage color! I've enjoyed late afternoon-before-dinner power walks in our town park The Crossings; sitting in the backyard with my book and a coffee after work; sitting on the deck in the morning sun on the weekend with coffee and my devotional, and raking leaves on Sunday while Courtney came over to hang out by a bonfire I made (and didn't get a picture of because we were so busy eating fresh apple pie and chatting). Dave helped to bag leaves and do some stuff around the house. I walked in my neighborhood as well after work and I'm thankful I had 2 days of waking up with no allergy headache and thankful for beautiful autumn afternoons.
the bonfire is just starting
after church chores!
I hope you have a wonderful weekend doing the things you love and that bring you peace and joy!
Hi Faith. Looks like you had a nice week. I loved that cute Halloween costume you wore. So fun! So glad that your lovely fall weather continues. We have turned cold and more snow is expected over the weekend. Glad to hear that you had some headache free days. Your time at the lake sounds so great. THat series of sermons at your church also sounds good. I may check that out on Youtube. I hope you have a great weekend.
That's lovely that you had a date night. I don't blame you for not cooking on Friday nights. I can imagine the challenge of working with those children. God bless you for your patience and caring. It's great that you were able to get a walk in with your sister and then have time for yourself later. I remember growing up in upstate NY and how beautiful autumn was. And Halloween, I'd go trick or treating, sometimes with long pants worn under my princess costume. I hated that but Mom made me wear them to stay warm! Have a blessed weekend.
I love the story of the little one and wanting to switch costumes (love your butterfly costume, by the way!) Oh, how precious those little guys are, and so innocent. Just warms my heart.
Love that song. Hadn't heard that version before. How fun to have a date night and what you both ordered sounds delicious! We usually get takeout on friday nights for the very same reason you do. Working with preschoolers is exhausting and by Friday I'm done and can't even think about cooking. Cute butterfly costume and how funny was your little student.
How fun that we were both butterflies for Halloween! And our costumes were very similar. I like that yours is connected in the back- Mine wasn't, and I wished it was. I liked that mine was simple and not expensive, too. What a neat encounter with the boy at your school.
What a lovely dinner date and nice outings.
I think we're nearing the end of fall color this week-or soon. But the leaves have lasted a good while. Sometimes a storm will knock many of the leaves off too soon, but thankfully not this year. I soak up the beautiful color to get me through the more barren landscape of winter.
What wonderful photos and there are so many things to be thankful for in life. I like the canoe very much. Also the fact that you like being with your husband so much. I discovered that too: how good it is to be alone with him in the busyness of the week.
Beautiful nature photos! I enjoyed it for a while.
Lovely week with lots of walking, hiking and friends time. Date night sounds yummy, too. Mostly, though, I am so glad to hear that you have had days with no headaches. I am still traveling, so I am really really late commenting. But we are all still thankful, aren't we?
8 comments:
Hi Faith. Looks like you had a nice week. I loved that cute Halloween costume you wore. So fun! So glad that your lovely fall weather continues. We have turned cold and more snow is expected over the weekend. Glad to hear that you had some headache free days. Your time at the lake sounds so great. THat series of sermons at your church also sounds good. I may check that out on Youtube. I hope you have a great weekend.
What beautiful blue skies on your walks. Love the halloween costume. Your date night sounds great. We love Italian food. Have a great weekend.
That's lovely that you had a date night. I don't blame you for not cooking on Friday nights. I can imagine the challenge of working with those children. God bless you for your patience and caring. It's great that you were able to get a walk in with your sister and then have time for yourself later. I remember growing up in upstate NY and how beautiful autumn was. And Halloween, I'd go trick or treating, sometimes with long pants worn under my princess costume. I hated that but Mom made me wear them to stay warm! Have a blessed weekend.
Your meditation place sounds so lovely.
I love the story of the little one and wanting to switch costumes (love your butterfly costume, by the way!) Oh, how precious those little guys are, and so innocent. Just warms my heart.
Love that song. Hadn't heard that version before. How fun to have a date night and what you both ordered sounds delicious! We usually get takeout on friday nights for the very same reason you do. Working with preschoolers is exhausting and by Friday I'm done and can't even think about cooking. Cute butterfly costume and how funny was your little student.
How fun that we were both butterflies for Halloween! And our costumes were very similar. I like that yours is connected in the back- Mine wasn't, and I wished it was. I liked that mine was simple and not expensive, too. What a neat encounter with the boy at your school.
What a lovely dinner date and nice outings.
I think we're nearing the end of fall color this week-or soon. But the leaves have lasted a good while. Sometimes a storm will knock many of the leaves off too soon, but thankfully not this year. I soak up the beautiful color to get me through the more barren landscape of winter.
What wonderful photos and there are so many things to be thankful for in life. I like the canoe very much. Also the fact that you like being with your husband so much. I discovered that too: how good it is to be alone with him in the busyness of the week.
Beautiful nature photos! I enjoyed it for a while.
Lovely week with lots of walking, hiking and friends time.
Date night sounds yummy, too.
Mostly, though, I am so glad to hear that you have had days with no headaches.
I am still traveling, so I am really really late commenting. But we are all still thankful, aren't we?
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